Beginning Programming All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1

Structures and Arrays

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using structures to store and retrieve data

Creating and working with arrays

Using resizable arrays

Running multidimensional arrays

Combining structures with arrays

Detailing the drawbacks of arrays

All programs need to store data. If a program asks the user to type in their name, the program needs to store that name somewhere so it can find the name again. The most common way programs store data is to dump data in a variable.

Unfortunately, a simple variable can hold only one chunk of data at a time, such as a single number or a single name. If you want to store a person’s first and last name along with their age, you have to create three separate variables, like this:

Dim FirstName As StringDim LastName As StringDim Age As Integer

Creating separate variables to store related data can be like carrying around three separate wallets ...